Durant, Thunder top Kings for 10th straight win

Kevin Durant poured in 31 points as the Oklahoma City Thunder kept on rolling by posting a 113-103 victory over the Sacramento Kings at Chesapeake Energy Arena.

Durant finished a scorching 10-of-14 from the field and 9-of-9 from the foul line to enable Oklahoma City to remain red-hot as well. The win was the Thunder’s 10th in a row, the franchise’s longest streak since moving to Oklahoma City from Seattle during the 2008-09 season.

The result also improved the Thunder to an NBA-best 19-4, a record surpassed only be the 1993-94 SuperSonics’ 20-3 mark as the best after 23 games in club history.

Kevin Martin and Serge Ibaka each added 18 points for Oklahoma City, with Ibaka pulling down 11 rebounds on the night. Russell Westbrook also registered a double-double, accumulating 13 points and 13 assists.

Isaiah Thomas scored a season-high 26 points on 10-of-13 shooting in the loss, Sacramento’s third straight following a string of three straight wins. Tyreke Evans hit 8-of-12 shots en route to 21 points for the Kings, who also received 15 points from Jason Thompson.

The Kings hung tough during an evenly played first quarter in which Oklahoma City ended with a slim 29-26 edge, but the Thunder broke the game open in the second and were never seriously threatened for the majority of the contest.

Martin kick-started a 16-2 tear by burying a 3-pointer with 9:15 left in the half, and two Durant free throws just over four minutes later capped the run and staked Oklahoma City to a commanding 50-34 advantage.

The Thunder would be ahead by as many as 20 points prior to intermission, and coasted into the break owning a 61-42 lead behind 17 points from Durant and 14 from Martin.

Oklahoma City’s marksmanship from long range also played a part in the large differential, as the Thunder knocked down 7-of-15 tries from 3-point distance compared to an 0-of-5 rate for Sacramento.

The Thunder maintained a double-digit cushion for the entire third quarter, and the margin swelled to 24 points following a 15-5 burst that culminated with Martin’s lay-in that made the score 99-75 with 7:53 to go.

Thomas then led the Kings on a furious comeback attempt that would eventually come up short. The diminutive guard drained four 3-pointers as part of a 23-4 surge that briefly got Sacramento back into it, with the Kings getting as close as within 103-98 after Jimmer Fredette made all three free throws after getting fouled from beyond the arc with 3:21 left.

The Thunder would ward off the charge, however. A Durant layup on the ensuing possession pushed the lead back to seven, and Ibaka delivered a pair of baskets that followed Sacramento misses to put Oklahoma City up 109-98 with under two minutes remaining.

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